"A FRIENDLY RUNNING CLUB THAT WELCOMES ATHLETES OF ALL AGES AND ABILITIES"

Great running at the Ash races & Last of the summer track & field matches!

Host of Harriers at top of the 3k & 5 miler with Dan & Zak winning; Graham leads team home in the 8. Whilst some great pbs at the Yeovil Games.

There was some good running by all on the hilly off-road races from Ash Martock School on Sunday, 9th September. First held way back in 1996, the Excellent 8 has always been a good test of running and with the accompanying Fearsome 5 and junior 3k and Fun run there are races for all ages and abilities. Zak Hurrell won the 5 miler; Dan Maydew the 3k race whilst Club Chairman Graham Goldsmid led the way for the Harriers in the 8 miler. Meanwhile at Yeovil Arena there were some excellent end of season personal bests by a host of Harrier juniors.

Club Secretary Paul (left) and Club Chairman Graham (right) with Toby, Leo, Dan, Tommy, Bernard, Jack and Bradley before their races at Ash

ASH RACES

The 22nd edition of the Excellent 8 saw Club Chairman v50 Graham Goldsmid run a solid 62.05 for 17th place; whilst Harrier Secretary v60 Paul Chadwick ran 64.13 for 22nd – some way down on what he did back in 1996 in the very first edition of this race when he was overall 3rd in 53.15! Next for the Harriers was v50 Craig Foley in 65.30 , 31st; followed by v40 Andrew Robinson, 69.07, 46th; and making a welcome return to racing for the Harriers after a long time away from competition was F50 Sue Rushforth, 83.15, 98th. There were 137 finishers. This race was part of the Somerset Race Series 2018. Next race at Mells Scenic 7.

In the Ash Fearsome 5, Zak’s time of 30.11 was well clear of the chasers – maybe the 8 next year? He was followed in close succession by 3rd place u17 Leo Stockham in 34.14; then 5th u17 Bernard Mealing in 34.55; 1st girl home (again) u17 Holly Bigger in 37.58; and making a return to racing V60 Pete Wright in 50.50. There were 63 finishers.

At the Ash races there was also an opportunity beforehand to present Tim Hawkins with his 'Kevin Sheppard' Wells City Harrier Marathon performance of the year shield for his run representing TeamEngland at the Chester Marathon.

Photo of Pete, Paul, Tim, Graham & Craig

In other local races, F60 Karen Shears ran well at the 1610 sponsored Chard Chaser 10k road race to win her age category in 61.23.

YEOVIL GAMES: last of the Summer Track & Field (for most)

Meanwhile on the track, Sunday 9th September, also saw the last of the local track & field matches at the Yeovil Arena. Many of the junior Harriers from our Monday training group attended, and many, if not all, achieved personal bests!

U11 Jess Vidler achieved 12.41 for 5th in the 75m sprints and 3.31m for 2nd in the Long Jump.U13 Georgina Burrows ran a pb of 13.31 in the 100m sprints and another pb of 31.2 for 2nd in the 200m sprints before completing her day with another pb in the 75m Hurdles with 15.5. u15 Adam Davison achieved a pb for the 100m with his 12.7 clocking; and then a 26.00 time for 200m and a Long Jump for 2nd place of 4.77m. u15 Harry Barton won his 300m race in 39.00 and his 80m Hurdles in a pb time of 12.1 before sailing out for a great pb to win the Long jump with 5.89m.

U20 Ollie Thorner ran 11.5 to win the 100m men’s race; and then 15.7 for a pb win in the 110m Hurdles and also managed 10.24m for shot put and a pb of 40.51m for the javelin. No surprises that Ollie was in training mode ready for next weekend’s English Schools multi-events Championships!. U20 Elise Thorner jumped 1.60m for the High Jump and also a pb of 8.09m in the shot put. Senior man Sam Harding won the 800m in 1.58. Well doen to allour track and field athletes.

For most the attention now switches to the road relays and then the cross country season. See Team tab for all information. and dates.

Coming Up:

Wednesday 12th Sept – last of the Yeovilton 5k races (from Wed 11th October the 30th season of the Street 5k races start – make a note in your diary! See tab here) If not competing then Harriers, or parents of Harriers, are expected to assist by marshalling at one of the 6 races over the Series at least.

Saturday & Sunday 15th & 16th Sept – South of England Fell Running Championships on the Isle of Wight; 3 tough races in 2 days to count. Club Secretary Paul once again competes in and administers these Championships for the South of England AA. Closing date has now passed for the Championships. Races organised by Ryde Harriers.

Saturday 16th Sept – Uphill to Wells off-road relay. A Harrier team has been entered by Oli Frost. See website here.

Sunday 23rd Sept – South of England AA Road Relays at Crystal Palace – teams already entered – see Team tab – contact team managers or coaches for further information.

Have you news or a great photo for the Harrier website? Please send it to Paul at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. A report by Paul, about the Harriers, appears in the local newspaper every Thursday.